Love is Lonely
by JustForgettheWorld09
Summary: Lorelei meets a strange boy with scissors for hands in an abandoned lot behind her house. Exiled from his home to the society that spurned him once again, can she help him find a place in the real world? And will he find a place in her heart?
1. Chapter 1

**Well, since I've read and reviewed almost every story in this category it seems, it's about time I submitted something of my own. This is my first fanfiction, and of course, I would be _far_ beyond grateful for reviews. I got this idea in an actual abandoned tennis court near my house, and thought it would be nice to change up where the OC encounters Edward, having him in a bit more perilous a situation then just hanging out in the castle. Also, Lorelei's situation...dealing with the grief of her mother's passing...is exactly my own at the moment. There's more than a few elements of me in her. So if at any moment I become to weird with my description of her feelings, or if I turn out to be a (gasp) Mary Sue after all, just let me know, and I'll tone down the me-ness. Now- on with the story!**

**Chapter one: Ragged Shadows**

"_Lithium...don't wanna lock me up inside. Lithium...don't wanna forget how it feels without, Lithium...don't wanna stay in love with my sorrow. But God, I want to let it go._"

A bird broke free of the foliage on her left as she hummed the last line, dropping her voice below the audible barrier of the evening wind. The breeze was a welcome retreat from the lukewarm day, humid but cool lake air that brought goosebumps to her skin. Humming Evanescence on the concrete pathway, her high-top black boots crunching the aged gravel, Lorelei Halcomb felt herself sink into the beauty of the enveloping night.

This was what she needed. What she had needed all that tired, crippling day, week and month: this silence. This breeze. She closed her eyes for a moment and drank it in. The distant sound of night birds, the moonlight, the rustling of the trees above her. Still, she hadn't reached any destination, so she carried on, walking slowly and reverently and humming snatches of the songs that were her soul's fuel as the mesh fence came in sight.

At the base of it she stopped, brown eyes quickly darting around as if she were about to commit some heinous crime. She then glanced down at her clothes: jeans, a T-shirt, black lacy scarf and her large black hat. Not very convenient for climbing, but she hadn't, actually, planned on this when leaving the house that night. Really she had just meant to walk, breathe in some air that hadn't filtered through her room dozen times already. Sort out her feelings, and perhaps soothe this distant ache that wouldn't seem to go away.

Dad would understand even if she couldn't tell him, she knew. Because Dad felt it too. She saw it in his eyes every time a song she had liked would come on. Every time Lorelei mentioned doing something _she_ had liked doing. Every time they began to enjoy life again. That familiar emptiness that marked the hole where his love and Lorelei's mother had been so suddenly ripped from the fabric of their beings.

The teenager took off her shoes, unlacing them and putting her socks inside before throwing them over the fence to hear them 'thud' the ground on the opposite side. It had been nearly six months, and life had dulled back into the hum-drum existence that was normalcy. Not the same normal, but an acceptable one. Her father had gotten a promotion, and was now far happier with what he was doing. Her 19-year-old half-brother had moved in with them. She'd finished another year of her homeschool co-op without going ballistic on any of the snobby rich teens there. She had almost been happy again: not just in irregular spasms of joy when she was given something to distract her, but on a daily basis: comfortable with her life. It was when she had realized that this was it: all there was, when this feeling had started. The constant dull hurt that was loneliness.

Her mother had been her everything. Her teacher, her best friend, her opposite. She had nurtured her interests, steered her on the right path. And when she was gone: suddenly struck down by a heart attack at a young age, it was like she had been violently snatched from childhood and shoved into the real world. And it hurt, in more places then people realized. She wasn't the kind of person who showed her feelings to others though: unlike her father who could express his angry, mournful musing clearly and have the whole world sympathizing for him, she was the quiet type. Only days after the incident she had appeared to be happy and normal again, spending time with relatives in town for the funeral, organizing a surprise party for her little sister. People wondered whether she was in denial or shock, or perhaps even at what her relationship with her mother had been like, and that had probably the second most painful part of it all.

The slightly rusted fencing jingled merrily as her toes entwined with it, and she let out a small grunt as she pulled herself into a comfortable climbing position. Things were better now. Time healed the jarring hole and life's inevitability smoothed over most scars. She had learned to be strong for her four little sisters, her father, her grandparents who had taken them in. A million people gave them whatever they needed: money, new clothes, the offer to help school, feed and care for them. But none of them would or could offer what Lorelei needed the most: her mother's companionship. Her selfless, wise advice. Her non-judgmental guidance. An escape from her loneliness.

The place she was breaking into...well, she'd rather think of it as trespassing, if anything illegal...was an old tennis court about a mile from her house. In what used to be a tourist vacation spot compete with all sorts of activities, the rec- room was now a rotting corpse overgrown with weeds, and the whole thing had been swallowed by the woods on the outskirts of a camping park. This court, however, was still accessible by a little paved road that her father and her had recently discovered, deeming it a wonderful thing to do on the weekends, despite the fact neither of them played tennis. Why she had been drawn here, walking at eight o'clock to wait on a late dinner, she had no idea as her bare feet made contact with the cracked surface of crushed shale. Why the sudden resolve to trespass on city property, something she had never made a habit of before, she didn't understand either. She hummed some more songs, wandering to the center the spacious four-court area, it's tree-shaded corners fading into darkness like the edges of an old photograph.

In the middle she stopped, both singing and walking: face turned upwards towards the moonlight, and put her hands in the pockets of her jacket. It was an eerily lovely scene, but anti-climatic. She had nothing for the sighing wind, no story for the nightbirds to carry on. She wasn't in love with anyone, or facing any great decision or suffering some great heartache. She had only this secret tragedy to mar what would otherwise be perfect peace.

_Snip._

The first time, she disregarded it. It was soft, contained. Probably a power line or a small animal brushing past the fence.

_Snip, snip._

She whirled, eyes wide. This was a manual sound made by something inside the fence. Her roving gaze found the concealed far corner. Her skin crawled, breath suddenly becoming shallow as her mind ran through all the possible scenarios of who it could be, none of which ended happily for her. She took a step backwards, and froze as the sound increased in both speed and volume, approaching.

A figure began to emerge from the shade, absolutely indistinguishable from the blackness except for it's movement and basic outline.

It was a man, she saw. A man with knives. Lots of them.

Her heart beat in her ears, threatening to drown out her ability to think clearly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her shoes, and for some reason all she could think was that they were going to be left here tonight. Found by someone tomorrow morning, when they began to look for her.

The figure was by this time only about five yards away from her, standing at the edge of where shadow met moonlight as though unsure about whether to show himself.

There was a long moment of stillness. Lorelei swallowed hard. Practicality struggling for control, trying to think of what the best approach would be.

"Hi." Her voice finally choked, the one syllable ringing small in the stillness. It was an odd thing to say, considering the circumstances, but perhaps the best. If it were simply another vandal like herself, perhaps they could let each other go their own ways. If it were a drug dealer...perhaps he would assume she hadn't seen anything, and let her go. If were a murderer...the most likely option...it didn't really matter what she said.

"Hi." Mimicked the figure softly. The voice was that of a boy: not quite a man, but certainly as old as Lorelei if not older. He sounded unsure, timid almost. Inwardly she began to wonder if this weren't all a dream, it was so absolutely unnatural.

Her breathing was still heavy, heart beating out a samba as she made more words tumble from her mouth. "You scared me. What are you...doing here?" Her voice was as un-accusing as she could possibly make it as she asked the question, hoping to buy herself some time to think if nothing else.

There was no answer to this, but the knives began to make their clicking sound again, and Lorelei felt her blood run cold. She was going to die here. She shook her head, desperate to break the tension.

"Who are you?" She inquired softly.

"M-my name is...Edward." Replied the voice, faltering timidly, like a child who has just been taught to introduce himself.

It had a name now, and it's voice was far from threatening. Lorelei closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath for support. "What are you doing with the knives?" She asked, voice beginning to shake despite her best effort.

There was half a moment of tautness, and then instead of answering, the man...creature..._Edward_...stepped into the full view of the moonlight.

"Oh..my..God..." Lorelei jumped back, panic suddenly filling her senses.

The first thing she saw was _them._ Because _they _were glinting the moonlight. Knives—fingers, shaped like knives, twitching and snipping nervously. The longest of them must have been eight inches, at least. They looked, from her limited view, razor sharp. Belonging to them was a gaunt body, clad in a suit of leather and buckles, and other assortments of metal. The shoulders were somewhat hunched, the hands held in front as though there were heavy chains shackled on at the wrists. Her eyes continued to travel upwards, and found a face: pale white against the black, with piles of ebony hair in twisted shapes surrounding it. It was young, maybe seventeen.

They looked at each other in the moonlight. Black onyx eyes engulfing her simple, frightened brown ones. To Lorelei, it was like looking through a window into a separate universe, eternally darkness and sadness but behind all that...beauty. She had never been this terrified in her life, but somehow, somewhere inside, she was strangely calm.

Finally, she blinked. Something shattered, and she pulled back into herself, losing her balance and clanging her back against the fence as she did so. The boy moved forward as though to help her and she slid to the ground and put an arm out, prepared to meet her end. But he had stopped moving, and was staring at her in concern.

"Are you OK?" He asked finally.

"Am I...?" She stood cautiously, backing as far against the wall as possible and regaining her courage. "Look," She started, motioning to the metallic hands. "I don't know what those things are or what you're doing with them. I don't even care. But they really freak me out, so how about taking them off now?"

The stranger looked from her to his hands, and back again, confusion written in the lines of his scarred face.

"I can't." He said simply, almost...mournfully.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not finished."

"You..." She stared at the hands extended dolefully towards her more closely, eyes growing wide as saucer plates. They were not gloves. Where there ought to be flesh and bone metal interlaced with metal, support wires and the ends of ball-pointed scissors. "Those are your hands?" She asked.

He nodded, not meeting her eyes.

"Well...what...how did they get like that? Did you have them...made that way on purpose?" She doubted that was legal, but then again, some teenagers did crazy things to themselves.

But again the raven black hair shook out a negative answer.

"Then how?" There was no answer. He continued to stare at his black-booted feet, scissors snipping nervously at his sides.

Lorelei swallowed, finally unafraid. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know. I was just scared, you know, when you see a guy in the shadows who looks like he's got a load of knives on him. I didn't mean to be rude." She divulged quickly, feeling suddenly ashamed at her lack of tact. "My name is Lorelei. You said yours was..."

"Edward." Replied the boy quickly, still without raising his head.

"Edward. Do you live around here?"

In response he lifted his shaggy head up, and looking around, pointed one freakishly long shiny finger towards the dilapidated abandoned wreck room, barely visible through the vines that overwhelmed it.

"You live there? Since when?"

"Yesterday."

"And where did you live before that?"

"The mansion." He pointed another scissor-finger behind her, in the direction of her neighborhood. Mentally she tried to recall all the large houses in the area, and the families that occupied them. Then suddenly it hit her.

"You mean the one on the hill? The abandoned castle?" He nodded. Lorelei let out a breath of disbelief. "Everyone said that place was haunted." No reply. "Well...why did you leave?"

Scissors slash against each other in discomfort at the question, but finally he meets her eyes again. "There were people there."

She furrowed her brow in confusion, wondering who would occupy the crumbling building the city had been brooding over for years. Suddenly she remembered a news article about a refurbishing project that had been proposed for the old place. How it was going to be redone and turned into a memorial to someone or other, some inventor.

"Did you live up there alone?"

Edward nodded.

"Don't you have any family or friends you can stay with?"

"No." He said simply, voice only barely doleful.

Lorelei swallowed. She didn't know what to say to this boy, whoever he really was. She felt as though she were falling for a prank. She'd been out for half an hour at least, on what was supposed to be a short walk, and her dad would be wondering by this time.

"Uhm. Well, Edward...I'm sorry. I really am, about all that. I...have to go now." There was no reply from the dark boy. She turned back to survey the fence that she had backed against, mentally disliking the idea of climbing back over it with her back to him, despite the fact that she no longer felt threatened. She turned back from examining it to find Edward approaching her, her boots held clumsily balanced on his hands.

"Oh...thanks." She said, flashing a small nervous smile and reached out...hand shaking...to retrieve them. She watched his face, mesmerized again for a moment, as the tiniest ghost of a smile played around his outlandish features.

She felt as though she ought to say something. She _did_ for sorry for this strange kid, even if she could hardly bring herself to believe she was seeing him. "Well...it was nice to meet you-Edward. Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

"Really?" Hope rose in his boyish voice, an odd tone, and those huge brown eyes lit up. _Wow, he must be lonely. _She thought.

"Yeah. Maybe sometime. I don't live that far away." She replied, smiling more confidently at him. There was a moment of silence where both studied each other in the moonlight once again, eyes probing, both entirely unsure that the other was real.

"I can show you another way out if you want." Said Edward suddenly. And to prove it he turned, and quickly headed over to the dark far corner he had been in originally. Lorelei followed cautiously, noticing the way his skintight leather suit jingled slightly when he walked and his black hair bounced. It was almost comical. In the corner where the fencing met the pole, part of it had come undone and a good portion was loose enough to squeeze through out into the vines on the other side. Edward held it open for her expectantly, even as she knelt to pull her shoes back on. When she was done, she walked forward, her legs beginning to tremble even as she came close to the razor-sharp hands that held open her escape route. When she was safely on the other side she turned, taking a mental snapshot of him once again just to assure herself he was real. In the darkness he was barely visible, body and hair blending with the shadows so that only the milky white skin of his face and his sparkling brown eyes stood out.

"Thank you." She said, voice suddenly as shaky as it had been when she had first found it to speak to him.

"You're welcome." He said simply, slowly lowering the fence back into place. It clanged shut like a cage.

Lorelei sucked her lip, still somehow unable to tear herself away from the unfortunate figure.

"I'll see you really soon Edward." She said suddenly, making a mental promise to herself as she did so. Then with a final resolve she turned and stalked away towards home without allowing herself a glance backwards.

And Edward watched until she was out of sight, hoping to whatever angels would listen that the girl with the short hair would become a friend of some sort. He needed one more than anything right now.


	2. Chapter 2: Summer Rain

**I'm back! Sorry it took so dang-flangin' long for a rather boring chapter. No, I'm not a doom and gloom kind of writer usually, but it has been very hard getting this one done. Thing is, I know where I'm _going_ with the story eventually but the hard part is getting there. We must walk the fine line between boring everyone, and rushing to a destination before anyone has time to really connect with the characters. All that to say, this is a little bit of an establishment chapter. But I digress. On to thanking my wonderful super-awesome reviewers! **

**Starxx: First review! YAY! Thanks a million! You really should have seen the squirrely little hop-up-and-down dance I did when I read this. Thank you! I'll try not to disappoint!**

**Hope Diamond: You don't know how I love waking up to reviews. You rock for giving me a chance. Thanks a mil. ;-)**

**Also, before we move on I should warn you that I am an obsessive music freak, and like to start my chapters with the lyrics of songs that inspire me or remind me of the story. If that bothers you...I'm terribly sorry, just skip the bits that are in italics. If it doesn't, I might go as far as to suggest you listen to some of the songs. They put me in the mood to write, and just might give you the feeling I was going for. Now I've written a book. Moving on!**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Summer Rain**

"_Even though the moment passed me by, I still can't turn away.  
All the dreams you never thought you'd lose got tossed along the way..._

_Now we're grown up orphans that never knew their names.  
We don't belong to no one, that's a shame.  
You could hide beside me, maybe for awhile?" - Name, _The Goo Goo Dolls, 1995.

The wind had picked up by the time Lorelei made it home. Shivering in the oddly-cool air, she banged the screen door into the two story house set-back in the woods, walking in to pizza on the bar in the kitchen, and Jason, her brother watching a MST3K on the livingroom couch.

"Hey, where have you been? Dad almost made me go out and look for you." He complained caustically upon her arrival.

"So why didn't he?" She asked irritably, tossing her hat onto the table and grabbing a coke from the fridge. The whole way home, every step she took away from the tennis court, she had had to convince herself that what had just happened was real. She just couldn't make sense of it. A boy with scissorhands, living alone in a castle...he runs from the castle because of intruders, and ends up in a tennis court behind her house. It didn't answer a half of the questions she came up with on the short walk back. How on earth did his hands get that way? What was he eating? And where were his family?

"I told him you said you were going to Wal-Mart." Said Jason casually.

"But I didn't say that."

No reply, but the sound of the show droning on.

"Oh, you are such a jerk. What if I'd gotten murdered or raped or kidnapped?" She asked as she punched the magic pizza-thawing numbers into the microwave.

"Well, you didn't."

"OK. Sure. But what if I had been? What if I had gotten murdered?" She demanded, a tone of frustration inching it's way into her voice. True, the boy...Edward...hadn't harmed her, but he had been at perfect liberty too and her frayed emotions still insisted it was a near-death experience.

"Well somebody's in a macabre mood tonight." Said her father from behind her, making her jump slightly. "What did you go to Wal-mart for?"

Lorelei glared at her step-brother, before replying. "Nothing really. Where are the girls at?"

"They'll be at Grandmom and Grandad's till Monday. We decided it would be better they just stay the weekend. Riley's behind on her math."

Lorelei nodded. Her four little sisters, ages 4 to 12, were rarely at home these days. It had been her mother's dream to homeschool all of them, and she had been brilliant at it. Since her death the burden was taken on by her maternal grandparents who lived an hour away, meaning the family was split five days out of the week. Lorelei was old enough to handle whatever school didn't come from her two-day a week co-op at home herself. Consequently, since Jason and her dad both worked the same hours, she was alone at the house the majority of the day.

She ate her pizza, watched the end of the movie with her Dad, and then wished them goodnight before taking a shower and gratefully slumping into bed.

* * *

That night she lay awake, images of the mansion, the only time it had ever made an impression on her, clouding her mind. It had been near Christmas, and she was at her best friend Alison's quaint suburban home for a sleepover. It was very late, and they had been watching a movie, when Alison's little brother had run downstairs excitedly yelling that it was snowing for the first time that year. Sure enough, when they threw open the basement window the yard in view was a swirling white vision of crystalline ice. Beyond it, twinkling in the light of the festive decorations, the castle stood black and ominous against the moonlit sky.

They had sat there for a long time, taking in the still beautiful scene, before Alison spoke.

"Hey...do you remember my grandmom Kim?" She had asked quietly.

"Of course."

"Well, when I was really little, she used to tell me this weird story about the castle."

Lorelei had scoffed. "My brother told me that story. I doesn't scare me anymore."

"No, not the one about the clown. This one was about a guy who had...I don't remember...scissor for fingers or hands or something, because of an inventor who made him. And he made the snow by carving ice sculptures. I used to really love to listen to her tell that story, now I barely remember it. But grandmom was always really serious about it. I remember she used to tear up at the ending."

"Why? What happened in the end?"

"Well, he got chased out of town for some reason or other. And then the girl he loved...in the story it was grandma, when she was young...had to leave him there to protect him and pretend he was dead. 'And she never saw him again.' I remember that was exactly what she said. When I was little, I always wondered if maybe I could go up there and meet him."

Both girls had been about nine, and Lorelei remembered the uncomfortable silence settling in to end the conversation. Alison's beloved grandmother had passed away only months before, and even though there were no tears in her voice, Lorelei didn't want to stir the caldron of emotions by talking about her. Little had she known anything about grief, back then.

Called back into the present by the sound of a summer rainstorm's fury hitting her window, Lorelei gazed out at the lashing wind. That boy –Edward- would be soaked to the skin tonight.

She slid under the covers, trying hard to forget about him and his plight for the moment. Trying hard to forget about the confusion Alison's old words had elicited in her mind. There was no possible way that Edward could be the same boy from the legend...and yet, it wasn't even conceivable as a coincidence. Her tired mind refused to dwell, finally letting sleep overtake her.

* * *

She awoke from a dream about snow to her father shaking her shoulder gently. Groaning, she rolled over to catch sight of the clock.

"Dad, it's Saturday and I'm on Summer break. Go away."

"I know that princess. We're gonna go play tennis together, come on."

She was about to refute this statement, when the events of yesterday evening returned to her.

"Tennis? Why? I mean...why this early?"

"I have to go to Huston later. C'mon, Jason found your shoes behind the couch."

Groaning, Lorelei reluctantly removed herself from bed, and kicked her father out of the room. Her hair, having been slept on wet, was a spiky matted mess of purple and black. She decided to leave it, doubting there was anyone she cared to make an impression on at the local civic center. Throwing on a black tee and black and white striped skort along with her shoes, she managed the time to eat a bowl of cold cereal before rushing out after her dad.

As they pulled through the newer portion of the small-town recreational park, past the elementary school, various playgrounds, and a basket ball court, nearing the more dilapidated forgotten section that bordered what was now a camping ground, Lorelei kept her eyes peeled for Edward. She didn't see him, but she no longer had to convince herself of his existence.

The day was warmer than it had been, and puddles of rainwater had gathered in the cracks of the disintegrating court floor. In the quiet of the morning the sound that their shoes made against the shale seemed to echo into the surrounding woods. Lorelei was usually a decent player, not incredibly graceful or coordinated but with good sharp eyes and lots of practice. Today however, there was no game to be had from her as she brought up the rear, and her eyes were instantly glued to the rec- room merely yards away. It was attributed to lack of sleep then, the third time the ball hit her unguarded body instead of her racket.

"Geez Lori, wake up." Jason griped at her as she idly tossed the ball to him, only to have it returned.

"It's your serve. You're the back, _remember_? Cause you _wanted_ the back? Like two minutes ago?"

"All right, I get it."

"3-6. This is game point." Said her Dad perkily.

"Shut up." Said Jason.

"Well if you didn't force me to play at this ungodly hour of the morning..." Lorelei grumbled, half-handedly serving, and immediately glancing back to gaze attentively at the decaying structure. Sumac devoured it slowly but surely, and the wooden framework blended well with the woods except for two dark staring windows which faced the court. It was at these that all of Lorelei's attention was focused, and it wasn't long before she was rewarded with the unmistakable flash of movement somewhere in the darkness. It seemed as though Edward were used to stealth.

The ball clanged the fence behind her, making her jump.

"Oh yeah! Nice try. I win."

Jason muttered something unintelligible and dropped the racket.

"Who's up for a another game?" Asked her Dad.

"Not a snowball's chance in hell." Said Jason.

"I'm hungry." Said Lorelei. "Sorry Dad. Can't we go out for breakfast before you leave?"

Despite the temptation to use her distractedness to his advantage, her father agreed, and the nearby waffle-house became their breakfast table. Lorelei was better away from the court, but after eating half the food on her plate hungrily she took to staring at the four uneaten waffles with an absence. Edward, after all, would have had nothing to eat this morning, or last night for that matter. She asked for a box in the end, just as her father was being summoned via cell phone to an even more premature emergency. It was hard not to convict him for being too tied up in work, but Lorelei knew he did it on purpose. Work was his escape, just as hers was...she wasn't sure, but she knew she needed one.

"Your aunt will be over to help organize things later, but she can't make it till about three. Will you OK until then?" Her father was in the process of dropping her off at home.

"Get serious dad. I'm by myself like all day normally."

"Yeah, I know we need to do something about that. You need more time with your friends."

Lorelei was silent. In a way, she had come to enjoy the long days home alone. The house was quiet and complacent and calming, alone with her music and the means to record her feelings. Still, it was a dull unsatisfied way of living, even if it suited her.

* * *

Her father and brother gone, Lorelei was faced with the task of finishing her math on her own. Math and her were not expressly bosom companions, in fact, their relationship was more one of mutual malicious abhorrence. Today, especially, there was no compromise to be had from the unforgiving sheet of problems. Two hours later with her head slumping against her pillow where she had chosen to fight the battle this hour, Lorelei caught sight of both the clock, which told her there was still at least five hours left to finish that accursed duty called education, and her forgotten box of uneaten waffles. Again, thoughts and questions from last night's encounter swamped her mind, banishing any chance of concentrating on the problems at hand. Why couldn't she simply stop thinking about him? She had considered long and hard telling her father that morning, but somehow, for some reason, something stopped her. It was a completely inexplicable barrier she seemed to have drawn between the fantasy-like reality and...reality, and she felt the overwhelming urge to keep 'Edward' to herself, at least for now. Perhaps she was just going mad.

With a sudden decision having been made in her distracted subconscious mind, she hopped from bed, threw on a black sweater, stuffed her cell into her jean's pocket, grabbed the box of waffles and sped out the front door.

There were people playing in the playgrounds and the park, and even though the court and wreck house were set too far back in the road to be seen from them, Lorlelei felt oddly in the open coming here in the daytime. The fact that she was dressed completely in black and carrying a Styrofoam box of leftovers didn't help, and she got a few looks from some concerned mothers.

It was not surprising Edward was not to be found in the tennis court, in the open, as that would be incredibly unwise. Instead, Lorelei found herself stomping unhappily through the undergrowth in order to reach the skeletal remains of his hideaway, booted feet seven inches into sumac that god-knows-what was living in. Oh, the price of benevolence. She reached the window, not planning on attempting to find an entrance, and called inside in a hoarse whisper before she could stop to think about it.

"Edward?"

There was no answer for a moment. A bird fluttered out of the undergrowth by her feet, startling her, and a slight cold chill went up her spine. _Stop it. _She told herself. _If he didn't kill you last night, he won't kill you now._

"Edward!" She called again, louder.

"I'm here." His small voice came back from the far corner of absolute darkness.

"It's me, the girl from last night. Will you come out here?" No matter how nice and innocent he seemed, Lorelei was _not _going into a dark abandoned building alone with any scissor-wielding teenager.

There was a pause, some rustling noises, and then the distinctive sound of cracking vines as a rotted wooden door was forced open on the other side. Finally Edward made his appearance. In the daytime, he was somehow both more and less menacing. Firstly, he was only about a few inches taller than her, whereas last night he had seemed looming. His hair gave that impression, a knotted mass of what might have been curly black locks had piled itself atop his head, and pieces hung down in spirals around his face. What she noticed in the sunlight that she had failed to at night was the criss-crossing labyrinth of painful white scars that were etched across his face.

For a moment she studied him up and down again, much less intimidated in the muggy air with crickets chirping around them. Finally she spoke.

"Hi." She said inelegantly, but with confidence.

"Hi." He said back.

"Deja vu." She smiled, her smile resembled more of a smirk. He smiled as well, an oddly pleasant expression that lit up his eyes like fireworks. "I uhm...saw you this morning when I came to play tennis."

He nodded, smile fading slightly.

"And uhm...I thought about, you know, I thought that you might not have had breakfast yet. So I brought you something. Are you hungry?"

Again, he nods. Lorelei noticed the way his hair bounced around when he did so, and had to suppress a smile. She turned towards the tennis court.

"Well, I hope you like waffles then. Let's get out of this sumac." She shuffled forward a ways, and noticed Edward wasn't following.

"What's wrong?"

"I shouldn't...there are probably people around." He said hesitantly, scissors snipping nervously against one another.

She was silent for a minute, wondering what must have happened to him to make him afraid of people...or them afraid of him. "Well, there's no one at the court, you can see it from here." She said, surprised at the fact that she was already talking to him as though they knew each other. "Besides, if anyone does come I'll say you're with me." She added with her best reassuring smile. Edward made no reply to this, but the apprehensively drawn up hands lowered, and his eyes under those bruised looking pupils seemed to relax. Lorelei studied these signs before continuing on, Edward following obediently.

In the shady corner of the court again, the waffles lay in their open box on the ground as Edward, sitting uncomfortably Indian style, attempted to catch the floppy things on his sharp hands. Not knowing where else to put them Lorelei had set them on the ground, and although Edward seemed reluctant to eat in front of her, he eventually followed suite. It was obvious he was starving. Among the trials he faced were the fact that the soggy sirup-soaked food stuffs kept sliding his finger down as soon as it neared his mouth, and also the Styrofoam box continued to get stuck when he tried to stab a bit of waffle. Nevertheless he persevered on as Lorelei, leaning against the fence, watched in a mix of fascination and pity.

"You get wet last night?" She asked after awhile, an attempt to relieve the awkward silence.

Edward, having just lost a piece of pancake which crumbled and slid to the ground a fraction of an inch from his mouth, lowered his scissors gently to reply to her. "A little." He said lamely, face blank. In truth he had spent much of the night trying to find a dry spot in the rotted remains of a building. In truth he was eternally grateful to this girl for the waffles, regardless of how hard they were to eat. But somehow, he couldn't find the words to say so.

"That's not much of a place to live, you know." She jerked a thumb towards the rec-room, despite Edward's concentration being focused on the waffle, which he had finally discovered could be balanced whole in both hands and eaten that way. They were gone in a matter of minutes.

"I should have brought more than that." Lorelei said sympathetically.

Guilt washed over Edward at his terrible manners. "Thank you." He said shyly, unsure of how to rectify the situation.

She furrowed her brow. "For what?"

"The food. It was enough." His scissors scraped against each other as he skillfully pulled himself to his feet, and stabbed the box in order to pick it up. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with it, but it didn't seem right to leave it there.

"Here, I'll take that." Said Lorelei, grabbing it off the end of his finger. He was taken by the fact that unlike last night, she seemed entirely unafraid of his hands as she did so. "Look, Edward- can I ask you a question?"

He nodded, eyes staying level with hers.

"What's your plan? I mean you can't live out here forever. There's no food or water, or even shelter really."

"There's a water fountain that way." Edward interjected timidly, pointing a finger in the direction of the wooden playground.

Lorelei sighed slightly. "Touche. How long have you been out here anyway?"

"Since last night." She stared for a minute until he continued. "The people came in the morning. I hid until it was dark, and then I came here."

There was silence for a few more minutes. Lorelei cleared her throat, breaking it. "So...no long term plan then huh?"

No reply, except what was possibly a nod from Edward.

"Well uh...just so I don't worry about you, how would it be if I brought you food for a while? We usually just eat out anyways, and there's always plenty of leftovers."

No reply, once again, as Edward raised his head and seemed to search her eyes with his brilliant brown orbs.

"Look, if you're worried about taking charity, don't. It'll just be for a while until we can figure out somewhere for you stay. Really, I'd like to help. I wanna be friends." She furthered, smiling endearingly.

Edward smiled too. It was, really, a lovely expression on him. Lighting up his odd features until he looked almost normal. Almost.

"Thank you." He said gently, and the words radiated sincerity.

"Don't mention it." She returned ardently. Suddenly both jumped as her cell phone buzzed loudly in her pocket.

She flipped it open, irritated, to find a text from her aunt.

'_I'm at the house. Where are you?'_

Lorelei inhaled a rounded breath through her teeth. "Oh crap." She muttered. "She wasn't supposed to be here till later. Crap."

"Are you OK?" Asked Edward from behind her shoulder, making her jump.

"Yeah. My aunt's looking for me, I'd better go." She found Edward's eyes again with her own. He didn't look entirely convinced the situation was a normal one, and she smiled to ease him up a bit. Man, but he was strange. "I'll be by later tonight if I can. Will you be all right till then?"

He nodded, solemn expression permeating once more. Lorelei flashed him a lopsided smile, before slipping out the back way and booking it towards home.

When she was out of sight, Edward noticed the forgotten take-out box she had neglected to dispose of. Sticking the longest of his fingers into the lid, he noticed the way it sliced evenly and precisely. Satisfied, he balanced it on one finger and took it back to his new dwelling. He'd need something to do for the rest of the day, at least until she returned. He paused for a moment, reveling in the promise. How long had it been since he'd gone a day expecting someone's company?

Lorelei slowed her pace as she neared her house. Cursing her luck, she realized as the same questions that had haunted her last night and this morning came flooding back, she hadn't managed to find answers to any of them today. Whatever had happened to Edward in the past, he didn't seem keen on talking about it. As a matter of fact, talking wasn't his strong suite. He'd obviously lived alone for a long time...but he seemed to know enough about people to realize they would be afraid of him.

She shook her head as though it would rid herself of the questions. She'd be back tonight, after all. And tomorrow. The thought that she had something to look forward to during the day was a sweetly missed one, and gave her the strength to handle both her aunt and her school that evening.

* * *

**You may have noticed Lorelei's home life is a little complicated and weird. That's because it's the same as mine, or the way mine is going to be as soon as vacation ends. Aside from that, Lorelei seems to have taken on a personality of her own (which is wonderful, cause' I normally have problems with that) but it's certainly not mine. Now, once again, I beg for your reviews. Your likes, your hates, your constructive criticisms, anything. Especially, if anyone has any suggestions on how to write Edward better? He's a very hard character to capture on paper, as most of his personality and emotions is shown through facial expression instead of words. Thanks for reading. God Bless!**


	3. Chapter 3: Grown Up Orphans

**Can you believe it? I made it within seven days! Huzzah! **

**So, I realized this week that I totally forgot to do a disclaimer, which is, I imagine, pretty important. Especially considering my weird phobia of lawyers. So: DISCLAIMER: I do not own Edward Scissorhands, Kim, Kevin or Jim. I do however own Lorelei and any other characters mentioned so far. Not to sound like a smart-aleck, but if I *did* own Edward...well, you know the rest.**

**This really really should be two chapters, it's WAY long and has too much stuff that I wanted opinions on for anyone to cover in a short review. I wanted to split it, but I couldn't find any plausible place without messing up the draft I have for the fourth chapter. My apologies folks. **

**And now, a word to my reviewers. I can't tell you how pathetic my need for reviews really is. You guys are the lifeblood of my story, the only motivation that's able to push me to get me off my lazy bum and back to working. Long story short, thank you all so incredibly much for sparing your time to my story. Anything you can give me as far as character portrayal (_especially_ Edward's) would be supremely appreciated.**

**Starxx****:** **Thank you once again. I'm glad to hear Lorelei's character development isn't just in my head, as so many things are. ;-) I really can't tell you how I appreciate your constructive reviewing.**

**madgirlsrock723: Ok, so I read your review, and was all warm and happy and making little squeaky noises that my family was trying to figure out the cause of (in the livingroom, watching a movie), and _then_ I clicked on your profile. I seriously did a spit take. After which, my family had to try and figure out why I kept squealing "It's the girl that writes Timeless Kalypso! She likes my story! OMYGOSHOMYGOSHOMYGOSH!" And hopping up and down uncontrollably. Bottom line: you are an amazing writer who's make me go all teary-eyed more than once, and I'm very honored that you're reading this. Thank you!**

**Hope Diamond: Glad to see you're still on board! Thank you so much! I'll try and update within a week. (Those who know me and my procrastinating ways may guffaw, but I think I can do it so long as the Summer lasts. No promises, but your reviews are great motivation!)**

**miss. twighlightprincess: So great to see another reviewer! Doing my best over here!**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Grown Up Orphans**

"_God knows what is hiding,_

_In those weak and sunken eyes;_

_Fiery throngs of muted angels,_

_Giving love but getting nothing back..._

_People, help the people._

_And if you're homesick, _

_Give me your hand and I'll hold it." -People Help the People,_ Birdy.

That evening Lorelei finished her extra school in her room, blasting music under the untruthful explanation that it would drown out other distracting noises. Finally finished, she shoved the remaining papers out of her way and stomped downstairs just in time to see her father pull into the drive.

"I'm here early!" He acknowledged as he hugged her.

"It's all the rage today." She returned dryly. "Aunt Jane was too."

He chuckled. "Oh? You don't sound too happy about that. She make you work?"

"Only on the things she didn't finish." Replied her aunt caustically, her hands in there permanent place on her hips. "I got here and panicked when she was gone. Found out none of her work had been done either."

Lorelei cast a dark look her way, as her father held her out at arms length concernedly. "Where did you go?"

"For a walk." She shrugged.

"Took her half an hour to get back here." Interjected her aunt.

"I went up to the civic center." She replied, smiling disarmingly. "It was nice out today."

Her father's eyes widened. "Really? Mrs. 'It's always too hot or too cold.'?"

She chuckled halfheartedly, brushing his arm off her. "Actually I was about to take another one. It's a little cooler now. And there'll be less people around."

He seemed to be trying to study her for a moment, and then smiled. "OK. Why don't I get the tennis rackets and we can all go up there? Wasn't much of a game this morning."

She opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again. Sucking her lip and searching the room as though it could bequeath her some excuse.

Suddenly the phone rang.

"It's Bailey, for you. She called twice while you were upstairs." Said her aunt instantaneously. Half annoyed, half gratefully Lorelei took the handset offered her.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked sheepishly, walking out on the front porch away from the noise of the television her brother was turning on.

"Hi! Sorry I couldn't call you earlier today. Me and James went yard-sailing. It was completely boring."

"Good for you, I was home all day. That actually sounds awesome."

"Stuff it. This is _way_ more awesome. Guess what _we're_ gonna do Friday?"

"Enlighten me."

"OK, so Sarah has that new boyfriend remember? Well we've been thinking about getting together, you know the four of us? And yesterday we were talking about what single friends we have that might want to come, so it'd be like a group date...well anyway, we realized that we have dates for both Jenny and you!"

On the other end of the phone, Lorelei ran a palm over her face. "Bailey..."

"No, don't 'Bailey' me yet. This guy's really awesome. He's a football player, and he's got a wicked car, _and_ he's dated like, all the popular girls we know."

"Yeah? So why'd they break up with him?"

"Uh...I don't know! You better just be glad they _did!_ Maybe he broke up with them. Who cares! Seriously Lori this could be the perfect thing to keep you busy over the Summer. I'm kind of getting worried about you. You never show up for homeschool day anymore, you never seem excited when I get these things together or anything. Is something going on?...Do you wanna talk about it?"

Again, Lorelei's tired palm ran through her long dark bangs. "Know what? I've just decided I'll come on Friday."

"You will? Great!"

"But I have to go right now."

"All right. Awesome! I'll tell Jim to pick you up at your house then. Bye bye!"

She hung up the phone on the way inside, tossing it over her brother's head. Her father was occupied by the computer for the time being, she quickly scavenged the cupboards and grabbed a bag of Doritos and a couple apples.

"I'm going out for a walk!" She called on her way out the front door.

"What are you doing with the chips?" Asked her aunt.

"I'm hungry."

"But you just ate!"

Her aunt was talking to a slammed door.

* * *

The evening was, after all, cooler, and with less people around Lorelei jogged comfortably to the tennis court. It was breezy out, and the sky was turning a light shade of gold and purplish-baby blue as she slid around the back of the court and towards Edward's dwelling. The undergrowth of woods was a patchwork of light and dark, and cicadas and nightbirds were forming a deafening melody that made her skin crawl just a little.

She was startled then when his shape suddenly materialized out of the shadows behind her.

"Geez Edward! Don't do that." She laughed nervously.

"I'm sorry." He expressed sincerely.

She smiled, shaking her head. "Just startled me is all. Here, I brought you dinner. I can't stay tonight though so hope you can..." She trailed off as she caught sight of the rec-room behind her.

In the window, something white was hanging, catching the fading yellow light. She moved closer, ignoring the nervous snipping sound of Edward's scissors behind her. It was the take-out box, or what was left of it. The edges had been trimmed off, and the styrofoam delicately carved into elaborate designs. Swirls and patterns of shapes curved around one another, carefully decorating the whole box without making it weak enough to collapse. It was hung on a rusty nail, catching the sun so that it shone through the designs, making odd and beautiful shadows on the far walls. Lorelei was mesmerized for a moment.

"Wow. Edward. This is...fantastic." She said breathlessly, tracing a finger over a swirl gently. "You did this didn't you? With your hands?"

She turned back in time to see him nod. Deep, sad brown eyes lit up with the praise. He seemed so clueless and yet...only a genius could have made that out of a simple box.

"You can have it...if you like it." He said tentatively.

Lorelei broke out in a grin. "Thank you Edward." She said with conviction, gently removing it from the peg. "I love it." She stared at him for a moment more before setting the apples and bag of chips down on the window-sill in silence.

"Edward I really have to go tonight, but I'll be back first thing in the morning. My aunt has to work tomorrow, so we won't have to worry about her." She took a few steps back from the building, and stood once again studying the dark figure before her in silent fascinated perplexity.

Finally she took a breath. "Well. Goodnight Edward."

"Goodnight...Lorelei." He returned gently. Her name came out hesitantly, soft voice tripping over the unfamiliar word.

"You can call me Lori if it's easier. A few people do." She noted, smiling. She didn't mention that the _only_ people allowed to call her that were her family members and very, very close friends.

He smiled gratefully. "Goodnight Lori."

* * *

That night nearing eleven she sat on the carpet on her floor, disinterestedly playing scales on her guitar. Her mind was elsewhere. Guitar was something her mother had excelled at, and playing in the evenings had been one of her favorite pastimes, something the family had all looked forward to. She had been teaching Lorelei, slowly but surely, and now armed with a few internet sites and a "For Dummy's" book the teen had set out to finish herself. It was less than easy. Her fingernail nicked the bottom string for the fifth time that night, bending it at an absurd angle, and she dropped the Yamaha with a yelp of pain.

Sighing in frustration, she pushed the whole mess to one side, and collapsed backwards onto her floor. The TV downstairs droned through it, blending with the sounds of her air conditioner. She wondered absently whether it were hot or cold where Edward was sleeping that night.

Hoisting herself to her feet, she walked downstairs carefully in the darkness, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. Tiptoeing past her sleeping brother on the way back through the livingroom, the television, airing a story about the castle remodeling, caught her attention.

"_Local historians agree that these are precisely the kind of sculptures the legendary folklore figure, Edward Scissorhands, used to make, and there are newspaper photos to prove it."_ The spokeswoman was saying. _"Switching back to you now Bob."_

The camera changed from a dingy newsroom to the outside of the castle earlier that day, where a meatfaced reporter stood blocking a full view of the most gorgeous garden Lorelei had ever laid eyes upon. Sculptures of all shapes and sizes grew up, perfectly trimmed, surrounded by butterflies and birds and planted flowers. Animals, people, monsters and still life, some like 3-D portraits trimmed to surgical precision, others artisticly abstract living depictions that could be any number of things, surrounded the film crew like a still, slumbering army. In the background, workers moved in and out of the castle with various absurd looking machines.

"_Local rumor has long said that a secretive gardener had been caring for this estate, and this serves as irrepressible proof." _The reporter continued. _"It's simply amazing. And quite a tribute to the creative genius to whom this museum is to be dedicated..." _They went on talking about the inventor to whom the castle had belonged. There were a few pictures of a kind-looking old man, and some scientific dabble about his discoveries in chemistry and neurosurgery and about a dozen other fields. Lorelei was still paused with her foot on the first step, when photos of the various worm-eaten pages of an old book began to appear on the screen.

"_...One of the most amazing discoveries made in this mansion: the professor's journal, which contains diagrams, blueprints, and plans for his vast body of work. Unfortunately not all can be read, as the book has sustained a lot of water damage..." _Another page was flipped through to illustrate, and Lorelei felt her breath catch in her throat. On the faded, yellowing page was the unmistakable dark figure she recognized as Edward. His black buckle-studded suit was unmistakable, and although the top part of his head was faded out, she found his long scissor-fingers on the sides of the page. Suddenly the book flipped to the next page, and Lorelei got one second to observe the faded outline of what Edward was supposed to be. From what she could see, it was a perfectly normal man with dark hair and suit. And hands—real human hands of flesh and bone.

It was only on-screen for a fraction of a second, before the camera switched back to to the newsroom and another, more fathomable local story was discussed. Lorelei walked dizzily up the stairs, before dropping into bed and pulling the covers around her tightly. The room suddenly seemed cold.

It made so much more sense now, and at the same time, it didn't. Edward was an artificial human being-the first ever. The inventor had done the impossible...created a man from robot, or at least, almost had. That explained the scissors, Edward's naivety about the world. Maybe even how he could exist in legends from sixty years ago and still look like an adolescent, but...how human was he? One page away from the finished product was all she had to go on, and obviously he had basic human needs, like hunger. _And emotion_, she thought starkly, _he was lonely and frightened when I found him. And he looks happy every time I tell him I'll see him again. _She banged a frustrated fist down on her mattress. _A robot can't feel emotion! Science can't have come that far and no one know about it._

She rolled over in bed uncomfortably, dragging a pillow over the top of her head as she stared out her window at the stars over the tops of the trees. She didn't want to think about it. The Edward in her old tennis court—awkward, shy and completely lost—surely he wasn't some experimental half-human android?

Lorelei turned over once again, and her eyes surveying the wall covered in vintage movie posters as if it could offer some solution. Tiredly, her sight drifted down to her dresser, and locked on the take-out box he had given her. _It doesn't really matter what he is._ She quieted herself with conviction. _I'm all he has right now._

And with that strangely comforting thought in her troubled mind, she finally fell asleep.

* * *

The morning came mercifully for her after a long night of dreams that woke her continuously. The house was abandoned of any signs of life when she awoke, and by the time she had showered the sleep away it was already ten O'clock. Dressing quickly and grabbing a box of pop-tarts and an orange for Edward, she stuffed them into a bag, and then proceeded to pull something else out of the back of her father's closet.

They were rolls of giant craft paper. She couldn't remember exactly what her mother had bought them for a week or so before her death, but they had never been used. And since homeschooling no longer even took place at home, Lorelei figured they wouldn't be missed.

The day was perfect, brilliantly blue, and a cool breeze stirred up the warm early-Summer air. The world smelled of freshly mowed grass and, nearing Edward's hide-away, the far-off smoke of a campfire. Lorelei hummed quietly as she approached the rec-center, and tapped on the shattered window with one of the rolls of paper.

"Edward?"

"Lori." He acknowledged her almost instantly from within the shadows, appearing at the window with the small smile that she couldn't help but read as being happy to see her.

"G'morning. Meet me at the court?" She smiled at him before stomping back through the weeds.

Cross-legged on the shale once again, and he attempted to eat the pop-tarts as she peeled the orange for him while talking absently about menial subjects. The euphoria of the sunshine and the breeze and fresh air nearly made her giddy. She had holed herself away in her room for months on end after her mother's death, only coming out when she had too in the daytime, and eventually it had become a habitual part of her living. She had long forgotten how beautiful a fresh clear Summer day was.

Edward, if he was anything, was a first-class listener. Fascinated brown orbs followed her facial expressions with true inquisitiveness about anything and everything she could talk about.

"So...Edward...can I ask you a question?" She advanced after a while.

He nodded laconically.

"What did you eat up there in that castle all alone?"

"...Cookies." He said gingerly, after a paused. Lorelei halted her preparation of his breakfast.

"Cookies?"

He nodded slowly. "Father had...a machine. Sometimes vegetables would grow in the garden too. But the cookie machine always worked."

She blinked at him a few times, trying to imagine living on a diet of sugar and water and flour for God knew how many years. Finally she shook her head. "Maybe it's a good thing you had to move. That can't be healthy." She chuckled.

No reply from Edward, but the curious brown eyes seemed to be mulling over this revelation.

"Well, I saw the castle on television last night, as a matter of fact." Continued Lorelei after a while. She met his eyes again. "And I saw your sculptures, the ones you made in the garden. They were yours, weren't they?"

He nodded, ebony hair moving to surround his pale face.

She smiled. "They were amazing. You have a real talent Edward." There was silence for a few moments. In her mind, Lorelei waged the battle of whether or not to mention what else she had learned from the television show that night. "Also I saw...they were talking about the man that the castle is going to be a tribute too." She broke off, meeting his eyes again. "He was an inventor. An elderly man...was that your father Edward?"

He nodded again, eyes keeping hers and then dropping in thought several times.

"Was he all of your family?" She asked quietly. Again, a nod.

"Can I ask...what happened?"

Edward stared at the ground close to her shoes. "He didn't wake up." He said it speculatively, voice taking an almost childish tone. Lorelei sensed the familiar bitter disbelief on the edge of his voice.

"I'm sorry." She said gently, and his eyes came back up to meet hers. She turned back to finish the procrastinated orange peeling. "I lost my mother...last October." She said with some effort after a long silence. "I know...it's not the same, because I have the rest of my family but..." She took a breath, and looked him in the eyes again. "I know what it's like to feel that sense of...lostness. Like there's no purpose left to anything." She finished gently. It was as if her mouth were separate entity, working apart from her will. She had met Edward two days ago, and so far she'd been able to open up more to him than she could to her own father.

Dealing with it wasn't so hard anymore, the crushing reality of it all. But somehow, when her mind had take all those horrifyingly abstract ideas and make them real through speech, her voice would crack and her mouth became numb with the pain. Even a sentence worth of honesty made her stomach reel.

Edward was looking straight through her with those fathomless eyes. There was an entire unspoken language to learn in them, she realized, and right now they were saying that they absolutely understood.

Finally tossing the last bit of peel away Lorelei offered him the orange with a wry smile. For a fraction of a second he looked confused as to how to go about taking it, and in that time she grabbed the shortest of his fingers between two of hers, laughing lightly, and stuck the orange on the end. For a minute, Edward simply stared at his hand holding the foreign weight of the orange upright, and the sweet sticky juice dripping down the bottom of it, wondering how she was so unafraid of his blades.

"That's the way I always ate them when I was a kid." Said Lorelei, mistaking the source of his confusion. "My little sisters still do it."

"Your sisters?" Asked Edward innocently.

She nodded. "I have four. And a brother, but you've seen him. That was him and my father here playing tennis yesterday morning."

_Had it really been only yesterday?_ Lorelei thought distantly. It seemed like she'd know him for weeks. For some strange reason, she was talking to him as if she had.

He was still staring at the orange, so she used demonstration to show him how to take a bite shish-kabob style, bemusedly pretending to hold a fruit on her own finger. Awkwardly, he managed to take a small bite of the juice-filled citrus, making a face to assure her it was enjoyable while trying hard not to look too pathetic in his inability to feed himself properly.

She pulled out the rolls of paper while he was still occupied with breakfast.

"I brought these for you. You don't have to do anything with them if you don't want, but, no one was using them." In a sudden movement she used to end of her sweater sleeve to dab some of the juice off of his chin. He flinched at the contact, jolting back slightly.

"Sorry." Said Lorelei slowly. "Force of habit. When you live in a house with little kids..."

"Thank you." Said Edward apologetically, embarrassment burned through his pale face.

She gave him a lopsided smile in return. "Anyway, I thought you might get bored so I took them along. Plus I'd like to see how you do...what you do. If you don't mind being watched?"

It took Edward a minute to realize she had been asking a question.

"I don't mind." He said gently. To him, the idea that anyone's company would be unwanted was absurd. But then, he'd been without any for a long time.

Finally finished with breakfast, Lorelei spread a few rolls of the paper on the ground. They were enormous, in a few different colors and textures. Edward stared at them in masked awe, imagination quickly filling with ideas, and images of what he would create. He'd experimented with paper before in the past, when Kevin Boggs had asked him to make dolls for his seventh grade class, back when suburbia had taught him all the other mediums besides bushes he could apply his talents towards, but he didn't want to think of that now.

Edward creating art, Lorelei realized during the course of that morning, was like Harpo Marx playing his name-sake instrument. His gentle face set in concentration, eyes probing and planning as he went, scissorhands working at a graceful but feverish pace. Sitting in awe on her knees below where he was creating, bits of the flying paper showered her, falling like quiet confetti. She stayed still that way for what could have been hours, an off-kilter brand of strange bliss enveloping her as she closed her eyes and let the sun warm her shoulders, the rhythmic metallic snipping noise of Edward's hands in the background. It had been such a long time since she'd felt this peaceful.

"Lorelei?" He asked gently after what seemed like an eternity in a different world.

"I said to call me Lori." She opened her eyes slowly, and turned to see Edward with an earnest expression on his face. Behind him, on the ground, the mutilated paper was strewn out in various ways, layers of clippings covering a mess of patterns. Using Edward's arm to pull herself up, Lorelei rose and advanced over.

Reluctantly letting her arm slide out of his-he was very aware of the warm sensation on the sleeve of his suit- Edward took a finger and gently inserted it into one of the holes. Up from the mess he hoisted a chain of the most beautifully intricate paper pattern she had ever seen. They were snowflakes and stars, with tiny holes in shapes and diamonds, duplicates of each one littering the row, labyrinthine decoration making the sun shine through in brilliant impressions on the pavement. Literally out of words Lorelei simply stared in wonder, tracing the delicate lines with a finger, turning it around to catch the light at different angles. It was amazing.

"Edward." She said with what felt like inelegant, finality. "This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

"For you. If you want it." He replied meekly.

She smiled, genuinely out of words again. The expression had been used more today than it had been in weeks.

Out from the pile Edward pulled more chains- some of them people, hand in hand, of different sizes and ages and it seemed, personalities. Some were true snowflakes, delicate portraits of falling ice. Some were perfectly made spirals that hung, springy and huge and full of life.

And they were all, of course, for her.

She swept the clippings up with a broom retrieved from the house along with lunch, and, with Edward beside her venturing from his safe-hold, deposited them in the dumpster near the corner of the park.

It was already afternoon, and Lorelei had done none of the school she was commissioned for that day, so she had to bid him goodbye in the yellowing light.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She claimed, brushing off the paper shavings that littered his suit and wild black hair.

He nodded, blue lips and dark eyes and face filled with scars so humanly hopeful. She turned and left quickly, to keep herself from staring, trudging into the growing evening with her mounds of paper art over her shoulder.

Edward had meant to do more than just nod. He'd wanted to say, "Goodnight." Or something longer. He had meant to tell her about the last time he came here, and why he couldn't let anyone know he was back. He had meant to ask her why her hair was the color it was. But...he would ask her when she came again. He recalled the smile that she had worn during most of the day, and mirrored it with one of his own in the lonely evening. She would come again.

* * *

**Not to sound like every fanfic writer ever, but** **I was very nervous about this chapter, so please be honest and tell me what you thought. I'm not looking for flames, but good** **constructive criticism would be wonderful. Just to know whether you're enjoying or not, is of course, always brilliant. On a more random note, I think I just figured out the cure for depression. One simply has to google 'Edward Scissorhands Chibi" and viola! Utter and complete adorableness ensues. Sorry, ****lost my train of thought there. One more thing: anyone have any song suggestions? Meaning, of course, songs that pertain, apply, and/or remind you of Edward? Not that I don't have a million, but I'm always on the lookout for more. But enough of my rambling. If you've made it this far, please review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Ugh, that took so LONG! Of course, I made ridiculous promises to update within a week's time just before taking an almost three-week absence. But, my dears, as you know, inspiration is fickle and laziness is a hard cruel master. Not to mention, my dad's been all over me about spending more time with the family lately. So. Chapter four is here, written very distractedly piece by piece over a busy, busy few weeks. In many ways, I ask for your patience, considering the long wait and the fact that this chapter is not the best. Chapter five is already halfway written, so hopefully it should take less time, and I expect (read: hope) it will be more exciting. Three reminders before I begin thanking my awesome reviewers: 1. I do not own Johnny Depp, Edward Scissorhands, Kim, Jim, an Iphone, or a severed toe. Some of those things I admit I would like more than others, but the point remains that none of them are actually mine. 2. Lorelei is not me. I can't really stress how not-me she has become, but it's weird. So don't get the two mixed up, please. ;-) 3. I just want to apologize for all the grammatical errors I noticed in the last three chapters I recently re-read. Really, you guys should have flamed me. I have spell-check on two document pads, and on here, and I re-read twice always, and yet somehow I _still_ manage to miss annoying little things constantly, and they really mess up the feel of a story. Once again, sorry about that. On to reviews!**

**Luminous Faith: Actually, thank you for writing a long winded message! It gives me something long winded to respond to! And as anyone who's reading this has obviously figured out by now, there's nothing I love more than being long winded. ;-) Firstly, thank you for suggesting songs! I'm not going to blame anyone for not doing that, it's wonderful enough to have you reviewing and reading at all, but I really appreciate it. I agree with the first (although I wouldn't change those gorgeous eyes of his to save my life) And I am much looking forward to listening to the other. Secondly, you made me get all nervous a little there with what you said even though it was very true to what I think. So for you I have this special little disclaimer that applies to this chapter: don't assume to much just yet. I 'ermed' and 'awed' over writing what I did because I was afraid it would sound like exactly like what you're warning me against, but I know where I want this to go now and I intend to take my time getting there. In a nutshell: don't buy into it too much, it's all part of my evil plan. I think. Keep reading and I will gladly glomp you back. **

**Thirdly: just, thank you! Edward is an _intensely _difficult character to write, and it's really amazing when someone appreciates the effort. It's an art of getting into his mind, without having him speak it. Augh, that boy. But we do love him. :-) OK, now I really have written a book. **

**SmackersPink: Aww shucks! Thanks for that. :-) Happy to see you're on board!**

**Starxx: Hugs Once again, super thanks! I can always depend on you to be specific with your reviews, and the fact that you like it still makes me all happy inside.**

**miss. twighlightprincess: Once again, my gratitude for you're patronage. hands over bag of gratitude Enjoy!**

**And also, I would like to thank all the people who lit up my email (and consequently, my day) by adding this story to their alerts or favorites. Even though you didn't review, it told me you were reading and gave me the kick I needed to get out of my funk and write more, and I really appreciate it. Thank you. :-) **

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR: Shelter**

"_Can't help myself but count the flaws, _

_Claw my way out through these walls._

_One temporary escape, _

_Feel it start to permeate._

_We lie beneath the stars at night, _

_Our hands gripping each other tight._

_You keep my secrets hope to die,_

_Promises, swear them to the sky." - Young Blood, _The Naked and Famous.

Dawn broke Friday morning, and turning over on her mattress, Lorelei opened sleepy brown eyes to the sun. The three-day weekend, God bless it, tended to start like every other weekday for her, and that was the only downfall to Summer.

Her room, previously simply an array of junk and of clashing colors: purple walls with bright red and yellow band posters, carpet littered with stacks of old records, vintage furniture pieces and old useless electronics shoved on display against the wall, along with several full book shelves...she was quite a reader, when she had the time...were now barely visible through the snow.

Eternal paper snow, hanging from the ceiling around her bed like shredded curtains, falling just above the head and constantly twirling with the slight wind of her ceiling fan. Warm satisfaction grew in her at the beauty of it in the morning sunlight.

During the past week, she'd been with Edward every day. It was hard, getting to really know a boy who kept the 'speak when spoken to' rule with religious conviction, but around her, day after day of being the only person he had spoken too in years, Edward had begun the slightest bit to open up. Almost. It was still like conversing with someone in Morse code.

She knew now some of the 'childhood' he had shared with his elderly father. That, although he hadn't quite phrased it that way, true to character the only knowledge Edward really had of the outside world came from old books. That was, at least, before he'd been caught by the benevolent side of society and pushed into the fore-front of of it's hatred. He was brief on the subject, but Lorelei could fill in the rest: speaking of a kind family called "The Boggs" who had taken him in, of their matron 'Peg' who he spoke of in almost exactly the way she would think that an adopted boy would his mother, and of their daughter Kim.

He couldn't seem to ever find words to talk about this 'Kim.' It made her hurt for him just to watch him try. His dark clear eyes would fill with something beyond her, and it was obvious he had been in love. She didn't know what happened, and she couldn't bring herself to ask. Just as he never asked about her mother.

Breakfast was full under way for her little sisters downstairs, when she made her appearance. Messenger bag already over her shoulder.

"Oh my gosh! Stop the presses! Look who's up before twelve!" Kidded her twelve-year old sister.

"And dressed too." Said her grandmother, today's assigned helper, skeptically. "Where are you off to so early?"

"Thought I'd take a walk before it starts sweltering." She grabbed a cereal bowl and poured herself some, hoping she sounded and looked casual. In the past week, she had become an expert at lying without really lying.

"Where to?" Asked her 'gram' quizzically.

"The civic center." She said around a mouthful. "Maybe I'll go to the store too." She added vaguely.

At the mention of the store there was an instant chorus of 'Can I come?''s to contend with from her sisters. She ignored them all with a firm shake of the head.

"Stay out of my room!" She called to one of them who was heading up the stairs.

"Your father tells me you take one every day." Gram continued nonchalantly. The old woman was proverbially wise, and generally understanding, although as a member of the senior crowd she was perpetually under the impression all teens were either depressed or severely immature. Lorelei was an obvious candidate for the former of the two.

"It's my alone time." Parried the teenager, as she flipped through a magazine that had been left on the table to soak in someone's discarded orange juice. She wondered if Edward might like it.

A speculative nod from her grandmother. "Well, if you do run by the store, grab some light-bulbs please."

* * *

She did end up running by the store. There was no good excuse around her grandmother and little sisters to stuff a duffel bag full of food right after breakfast, so she ended up spending her extravagant allowance for the first time in months...on fruit.

Apples, oranges...and a couple doughnuts, she figured he'd like a treat, were unloaded on the court floor for her new friend. He waited there for her in the mornings now, sitting in the shade, even during the two days when it had rained. It had been hard to decide whether to laugh or scold him, when she found him hunched in the corner, metal hands on his knees and black leather dripping with water. She had done neither.

"Edward, what am I gonna do with you?" She had simply asked him. It struck her the minute she had the words left her lips, how many time she had heard her mother saying the exact same thing to her father. Edward had raised his shaggy, dripping head with a pale boyish face, looking at once confused and bereaved. In that moment she'd been gripped with the sudden urge to put her arms around him. An odd random thought, it had come and gone in a flash, drowned out by the dripping rain on her umbrella, only to haunt her again that night.

This morning he was standing at the far corner fence, snipping the bits that stuck through the bars absentmindedly. He smiled at her, as he always did, and muttered a greeting in return to hers.

Lorelei perched on the rusting metal ball-can, her usual seat, and played with her various bracelets as she talked and Edward dined skillfully.

"...He's been looking at rentals over in Sail Creek. Under where you used to live. I just don't get it. He's sacred about some things...like, her sewing table. He won't move that, won't even let me clean it. And now he acts like he wants to move."

"Do...you want to move?"

She hadn't even known she had had his attention, as he asked a rare question. She shook her head.

"No. I don't. And especially not to the suburbs. I don't really think that Dad does either. I think maybe he just wants distraction, but I don't know. We're really very different. Sometimes I just don't get him at all."

Edward seemed to be digesting the new information, and went back to gently slicing his apple thoughtfully.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. I won't be here to bring you dinner tonight, so I'll have to leave it with you at lunchtime." She remembered out loud all of a sudden. Again Edward's inquisitive gaze met her eyes.

"Why?"

"Some of my friends have _arranged_ me a date." She said with more than a little contempt.

"A date?"

She nodded thoughtlessly, before realizing what he meant. He didn't know what a date was.

"A date is..." She took a breath, trying to remember how she had explained it to the youngest of her sisters. "A date is where two people, around the same age, people who like to be with each other, go out and do things together, so that they can get to know one another."

He blinked owlishly at her, taking the explanation in for long awhile. "Are...are we on a...date?" He asked finally, struggling with the words.

She hadn't expected that as a follow-up question. Lorelei folded her lip humorously. "Well, no not exactly...no." She faltered for words, suppressing a chuckle. "The two people...who go out together...they have to _know_ it's a date before hand. And also...people go on dates to get to know one another, to see whether they want to be romantically involved together." She swallowed somewhat painfully. "Like boyfriend and girlfriend."

Edward nodded. He knew what boyfriend and girlfriend were for sure. He had even known Kim and Jim to go on 'dates', but he had never been quite clear what they were, nor brave enough to ask.

"Who are you going on a date with?" He asked finally.

"Just some guy my friend dug up for me. I've never met him."

Silence again.

"As a matter-of-fact, his name is Jim."

She glanced to find that at this, Edward's eyes had shot up to meet hers. There was something searching in them that to Lorelei, who had been with him every day for a week, was completely foreign. He looked almost...afraid, or even...angry, far off in the depths of those fathomless brown orbs. She had thought him absolutely incapable of anger.

He had spoken very, very briefly of Kim's boyfriend who went by that name, really giving nothing beyond the fact of his existence when Lorelei had been inquiring about her. But now, it was obvious there was more to the story, and that she had said something wrong.

Edward alluded to nothing however, simply staring into her eyes like a frightened animal for a second that seemed an hour, before realizing himself. The oddly hurt gaze crinkled back into her shy-eyed Edward, and he timidly resumed breakfast without so much as a passing comment, as an uncomfortable silence settled over the two friends.

The heels of her combat boots crashing against the metal can, Lorelei looked desperately for something to break it.

She coughed. "Edward, I meant to bring a comb for you today, but I completely forgot." She said lamely.

Edward made no comment, but gave her his attention just as always.

"I thought maybe I could comb your hair out a little, it can't be very comfortable like that." No reply, as he was occupied with half-heartedly peeling an apple. She had never seen him peel one before. For once, she was the one that felt nervous and out of words. It wasn't that he wasn't talking much...as though he ever did...it was the _way_ he wasn't talking. She shook her head in odd exasperation.

"Do you cut your own hair?" She asked a minute later.

"Sometimes." He said habitually. It was one of the three comfortable one-word answers he used in most situations. Lorelei frowned. This was getting her no where.

"How about cutting mine?" She offered testily. It did the trick.

Setting down the apple, any unintentional indifference quickly replaced with his usual childlike eagerness at the prospect of creating something new, he rose and proceeded to wordlessly concentrate on surveying her head of short hair. It was growing back to half-shoulder length, purple fading to brown over darker undertones. What was left of the bangs were long and hung down to frame her slightly mousy face.

Painstakingly gently Edward used one long finger of his hand to flick some of it to the side. Lorelei's skin crawled at the near-contact, and she shut her eyes and braced her teeth to keep herself from flinching as he made the first snip.

It was even and experimental, the piece of oddly colored hair drifting silently down by her feet, and Edward glanced at her as if to ask if she were sure. Sensing his gaze on her, she opened one tightly clenched eye and smiled at him. And quickly shut it again as he went to work full-speed.

Edward had talked in passing of his former skills and near-occupation as a barber. It was one of his favorites parts of his story, when he had to tell it. He didn't wallow in the self-pity of what had happened, or tirade angrily about his mistreatment. But he did like to remember with fondness a time in which his talents and company had been valued. Lorelei knew now how a town full of bored people, too shallow to see his personality, could have become smitten with him. Having your hair cut by Edward was an experience like no other.

She'd never imagined life from the viewpoint of the paper, the many times she'd watched him cut it. The inexplicably calming rhythm of the blades whirring around her along with small bits and pieces of her hair, coupled with the chill on her neck from the sensation of the blades less than inches from her unprotected skin caused her adrenalin to rush as though she were on a carnival ride. She attempted to open her eyes, only for reflexes to close them for her. Nothing about this was safe, but somehow she didn't feel as though she were in danger one bit. For a boy as clumsy as Edward, nothing ever marred the subject of his creativity.

The soft sound of her name called her into reality again in a few minutes that didn't last long enough. Edward's hands still snipped compulsively, whether with left over nervous energy or because he was unsure what her reaction to his hair-cutting job would be, she didn't know. Hopping down from her perch, she felt the unmistakable lightness of the back of her neck, and found herself standing in her own purple locks that were scattered on the ground. A hand groped her head, feeling unfamiliar angles and spikes, cut so that they fell perfectly around her ears and forehead.

There was no mirror to truly survey herself in, and even though she was grinning like an idiot, she was unable to tell Edward anything he hadn't heard her say about his work before.

"What do you think?" She asked him, an uncharacteristically girlish tone in rising in her voice.

Edward looked twice as nervous as before, at the question. She realized she had put him on the spot. He wasn't going to complement his own work.

"Nevermind." She said quickly. "I want to see for myself."

She checked the time, and had to suppress a curse word. Somehow, she'd been out an hour already.

"You have to go?" Guessed Edward.

"Aye." She grumbled. "I've been out here way too long."

She glanced at him, and was discouraged to find that he still looked oddly despondent.

Moving with a sudden impulse, she grabbed Edward's arm as close to the hand as possible. He tensed up, but for once, didn't jump back at the physical contact. She squeezed it comfortingly, unsure how else to embrace him without putting herself and him at risk of harm.

"Edward, I want to thank you." She said sincerely, voice becoming unsure as she said words that didn't come close to saying what she wanted them too. "Honestly, I'd much rather be here with you tonight."

Edward swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. "Thank you." He said, at a loss for words.

She smiled weakly at him, trying and failing yet again to hold eye contact with his deep, questioning brown orbs, before quickly running the distance home.

* * *

If the plan was to slip in the house unnoticed, she should have expected to see her father and brother's cars in the drive. For once she cursed that they had the day off.

"Your hair!" Someone called as she was trying to slip in the back door unnoticed.

_Damn._

"Lori! When did you get your hair done?" Asked her father as the room instantly turned it's attention her way.

"I...went to Wal-mart and had it done while I was there. What do you think?" She lied quickly.

"Wow. Did you give them a copy of your biography?" Asked her Gram. "It looks...very, very you."

"You look amazing." Said Riley.

"You look like Alex Parks." Said Jason. "And I mean that in a good way." He added more reluctantly.

"I love it." Announced her father, gathering her up in a hug. "But I wish you had told me first, I would have payed for you to go to your favorite place."

"Man, I don't think even Tina could have done a better job than this." Riley and Gram were playing with the spiky ends of her doo.

"Which one of the stylists was it?"

"A...new guy I think." Lorelei pulled gently out of the admiring circle of her family members. "Well, I'm going to go get ready for my date." She claimed on her way upstairs.

"But you're not getting picked up till five!" Yelled Riley. She didn't receive any answer beyond the door to Lorelei's room being shut.

* * *

The rest of the evening came and went without consequence. She left Edward both lunch and dinner at two O'clock, and explaining with an edge of guilt that she couldn't stay, promptly returned home to fall into a restless sleep on her bedroom floor with the radio going.

Her brother obligingly woke her up at a quarter to five.

She had already dressed herself in a small red plaid skirt, black scarf and boots and a black and white striped top. Much of her wardrobe was, in fact, constituted of these three colors. It was the way she knew how to dress.

"And if she's comfortable in her own skin." Her mother had said. "Leave her be."

A style her mother had been at least willing to tolerate, her family had more recently decided must be a sign of her depression.

Glancing in the mirror, her slightly crooked grin broke out of it's hiding place again as she saw her hair for the second time that day. No work needed to be done there.

"Your date's here!" Squeaked Iilysa her nine year-old sister, from below.

"And it doesn't look like he's coming in." Added Riley. "Man, he's a hunk though!"

Suddenly apprehensive, she glanced out of her bedroom window. Her intention to see the boy was instantly lost in the welling awe inspired by the car he was in. Lounging in a charcoal gray convertible Corvette, exactly the kind of car she had wanted for years, the blonde head of a Jim...what was his last name? Suddenly brought foreign excitement in the whole prospect of a date that been missing for as long as she could remember. Maybe this wasn't such a horrible idea after all.

Her boots crunched the drive as she walked out to meet her date, who promptly reached over to open the door for her. He _was_ good looking. Blonde, tan, with a slightly snubbed nose and true linebacker physique, and piercing blue eyes that studied her up and down casually as she approached.

"You must be Jim." Lorelei noted just before sliding into the black leather interior. "Nice car." She added with a smile.

Instant pride was in his perfect smile. "Thanks. You must be...uhm..." He chuckled. "To be honest, I've been trying to remember your name the whole way over."

"Lorelei. And it's not easy to remember." She introduced herself, smiling, before turning back to her father at the door. "Movie ends at 7:30, then we're going out for dinner. We'll be back around a quarter after eight, OK?"

She turned back to Jim awkwardly. "That all right with you?"

The latter shrugged muscular shoulders nonchalantly. "Guess that's the plan."

Adrenaline was summoned with the roar of the engine on that car, and the few attempts that Jim made at conversation suffered through no fault of his own. Lorelei was naturally the quiet type...except around Edward, she had discovered...and just now she was far too enamored by the warm rushing air of the convertible as her hometown zipped by beside them. Jim took liberal usage of the speed limits on the rural highways, but just this once, Lorelei could forgive the law-breaking. It was hard not to fall in love with it, in fact.

"So, Jim," She tried reluctantly after a while. "Where'd you meet Bailey, exactly?"

"Oh, she was on a date with a friend of mine. Ran into her at a game the second time." A moment of silence as they gained some speed, passing another couple cars. "So I hear you're both homschooled huh?" Jim mentioned dubiously.

"Yeah."

"That uhm...must be fun..." He furthered doubtfully.

"It has it's ups and downs."

"You actually like it?" He sounded honestly surprised.

"It's OK. Like I said, there are advantages."

His silence in return to this lame defense made her throat go dry. She had defended homeschooling before, heck, her best friend was the perfect argument against the un-socialized myth, but somehow Jim's radiated confidence and casual perfection made her feel stupid the minute she opened her mouth. The next few attempts at conversation came from her, and fizzled out with uncomfortable quickness. Her untapped enthusiasm for this trip faded as quickly as it had come.

In the theater parking lot, they found Bailey, her handsome boyfriend, a Japanese exchange student, Sarah and her respective date, and Jennifer; a gorgeous red-head with a penchant for bubbly dresses, who had brought her new beau along.

"So...how are you two getting along?" Asked Bailey in her sweetest voice as soon as introductions and a general conversation time, not emitting compliments for her hair, were over. Her obviousness made Lorelei nauseous. She was playing her favorite game: matchmaking.

"Fine." Said Lorelei as enthusiastically as she could manage with Jim's eyes on her. "You didn't tell me what an amazing ride he had."

"And you didn't tell me she was a goth, either." Chuckled Jim dryly. It was meant as a joke, but something in his tone made her wince.

"Well what would you guys have to talk about otherwise?" Bailey was ecstatic, everything except what she wanted to hear going over her curly head. The movie started sooner than they had expected, and the eight teens took their choice seats near the front of the theater.

It took less than ten minutes for the two established couples to begin making out with each other. In her seat next to a severely bored looking Jim, Lorelei felt like sinking into the floorboards. She had been on dates before, lots of them: but usually with people she had known for a longer time, and sometimes there had been some kissing. In this situation though she was entirely at a loss about what to do.

It didn't take long for a Jim to find a solution to his problem though. Lorelei turned back after a few minutes to find him amorously conversing with a stricken Jennifer, much to her wimpish looking boyfriend's chagrin.

Even though she burned with a distant anger, it was something of a relief. With a hand in her dark purple locks, she buried herself in the movie, trying to decide if it were the terrible romance or the terrible comedy that had made Bailey pick it.

Thoughts of Edward clouded her mind, bringing a smile to her face once again. The thought of his conclusion at the explanation of a date, and his shy embarrassed reaction to...nearly everything she did. He was non-judgmental in the extreme, and consequently it was easy to be herself around him.

She was tired, she realized, hours later as they dizzily walked out of the movie theater and into the waning light of day. Jim wasn't even attempting to be sneaky, asking Lorelei in front of everyone if "Jennifer could have a turn riding in the car." To the restaurant. She nodded him off, feeling a smile plaster itself on her face without her bidding. All she wanted at this point was to go home.

Dinner was predictable. She felt as though she should strike up a conversation with Jennifer's discarded date, but he was obviously preoccupied with staring daggers at a couldn't-care-less Jim, so instead she merely picked at her food, and tried to ignore them.

It was hard, when she heard her name a few times, in conjunction with the words "Doc-Martens" and, of course, "Awkward".

Matters dragged on this way for days, it seemed. The sky around her favorite diner grew dark in a blink of an eye. Finally breaking a two-and-a-half-hour silence, Lorelei quietly reminded her friend the hour that she was expected home.

In his most gallant act of the night, Jim drove her back to her house. If conversation had been scarce on the way, it was non existent on the return trip. The muggy night air was thick with the sweet smell of freshly cut grass, and she rested her cheek on the edge of the car, picking out stars in the distance and letting the warm wind whip her hair about. She felt numb to the awkwardness of the situation, inwardly building indifference to the idea that she'd been mistreated. The evening felt like it had lasted years, she was only happy to be going home.

In the driveway of her house, she scribbled her phone number down for Jim. In his way, she figured, asking for it was something of an apology. Honestly she didn't care. Honestly, she didn't have the strength to blame him. Maybe she was just that impossibly distant from other people after all.

Her little sisters were crowded on the livingroom couch, watching a movie, drifting in the halfway realm that came before sleep. She tiptoed behind them into her father's room where he was occupied with work papers, letting him know with as happy a tone as she could that she was home, answering his questions with: "I'll tell you about it tomorrow." She knew what she would tell him tomorrow, and also what she wouldn't. She had decided a long time ago that he bore too many burdens to add hers as well. He just didn't know how to handle her pain. That had always been her mother's job.

Upstairs in the cool of her room with soft Nouvelle Vague playing, she lay on her bed for hours and drew absently. She was not an artist, she knew and accepted. Perspective alluded her, but it was a still calming exercise. She especially liked to practice with shadows. On her sketchpad, the black corner of the tennis court under the moonlight began to take shape, the vague outlines of tree limbs overhanging it.

Her pencil broke, and without another thought she brushed the entire mess off the edge of her bed, and gave in to thinking. Frustration grew with every silent moment she spent contemplating what she was trying not to consider. In two weeks, the calender above her bed told her, she would turn seventeen. Seventeen, and she had no plans for anything, no one she wanted to be with. There were the blurred, superficial dreams she had made for her future in the past few years: the high-class college she had wanted into, her career in journalism, a part-time job as a pianist. They seemed almost funny now, none appealing to her with the same fiery passion as they had in the past. She had aged too quickly, and she suddenly realized that she had no idea what she wanted. And there was no one there to say it to, no one to assure her she was too young to worry about this kind of thing. No one to allow her a moment of pure childish agitation and soothe it with understanding.

* * *

The clock read eleven as she slipped though the now-abandoned livingroom and out the backdoor of her house. The air was even warmer than before, flushed Summer dankness enveloping her jeans-and-sweatshirt clad body as her aged denim sneakers crunched the gravel on her walk. Familiarly, she walked the backstreet roads in the brilliantly lit darkness, the fear of punishment –she had never 'snuck out' before—fading the farther away from her sleeping house she went. She needed to think, but somehow, she couldn't. Refused.

Breaking into a run as she neared the civic center, passing the highly-fenced pool and the sighing, abandoned playground, she entered the darkened woods that overhung what was left of the concrete pathway to Edward's domain. Grunting slightly as she squeezed through the hole in the court fence, a sudden sting caused her to yelp scarcely as she scratched her upper arm on the jagged end of the steel.

Without notice she stumbled into the middle of the empty court, under another moonlight sky, by herself. Edward wasn't here, she realized with pungent obviousness. Of course not, it was eleven at night—and what else did he have to do? He would be asleep. That was his life: a frightened innocent prisoner with all the sadness in the world to bear, and _she_ had come running to _him_ with petty troubles.

A small fist clanged in the fence in frustration.

She sunk to the ground and buried her head in her knees for a few moments in silence. There would be no crying tonight, not over this, but she allowed herself to drown in her confusion and anger for a moment. Not about Jim, or his ridicule- that couldn't matter less to her. It was just one more straw on the camel's back. Another attempt at restoring normalcy that had gone wrong.

"...Lori?"

She pulled out of her low stance and looked up to find Edward standing above her, confusion and concern etched into his pale face that seemed to belong in the darkness.

"Hello Edward." Her voice was rough from the run in the night air.

Carefully, he lowered himself down in front of her. "Are you OK?" He asked timidly, as though it weren't his place.

She nodded, smiling tiredly. She was, somehow, now that there was someone to take note of her frustration. "Date...didn't exactly go well."

His brilliant dark eyes searched hers intensely, even as his face remained in the same neutral, caring expression.

"I'm sorry." He said finally, soft voice lowering. Lorelei felt her depression and anger fade instantly.

"Thanks for not asking what happened." She smiled in honesty.

He wasn't sure what the right reply to this was, obviously. "...You're welcome."

She laughed lightly in a breath of air."You deserve a lot better than all this, you know that?"

As soon as she said the words, she wanted to take them back. Not because they weren't true, but because his full eyes instantly took on the most fathomless look of sadness she could imagine. He disagreed with her, she realized with a mental slap. He thought he actually deserved everything that had happened to him. She didn't know what that was, exactly...the story he had told her still lacked an ending. But she knew him, and she knew that he was not the kind of boy who would ever have done something to justify this.

"I snuck out of my house." She said randomly, a mere attempt to break the uncomfortable silence, but it, too, struck her now that she was back in her right mind. "Oh man, I snuck out of my house." She rose to her feet disorientedly, clapping hand to her forehead. "Oh Hell... Edward...I really need to get back. I didn't mean to wake you up, I shouldn't have come...augh." She broke off to see him out of the corner of her eye, staring distantly at the ground as she rambled, flawless eyes still full of that remorse, and was overcome with an overwhelming thankfulness for this bizarre confidant hiding in the darkness.

"Edward?"

He turned his full attention to her, a 'yes?' forming on his lips.

Without further warning she mustered all her courage, slid her arms underneath the ones held out at his side, and gathered him into a quick hug. At least, she meant it that way. Her arms met each other around his lean waist, and he took a tiny step backwards as she felt him tense considerably, and then slowly relax. And something about felt very right. The leathery smell of his suit so close filled her with the inexplicable urge to lay her head against his chest, but she refrained, slowly pulling away and sliding her hands up to his arms to look at him in the darkness. He looked like a ghost in the blueish moonlight, luminescent black eyes staring calmly out from his stark white face. He swallowed gently, and Lorelei smiled, releasing the hold she had on his wrists.

In a sudden instant his eyes widened, expression morphing into one of sincere panic.

"Lori..." Her name came out in a frightened gasp of a syllable. Stepping back away from her, he held up one of his hands to stare at it in the moonlight. There was blood on it.

Stunned, it took a Lorelei a moment to realize what was going on, when a slight sting in the side of her arm alerted her to the forgotten cut she had received earlier. Her nervous laugh cut the silence the wrong way.

"Edward, you didn't do that...hey, listen to me..." He looked as though he really might turn and run from her. "I scratched it on the fence when I came in, it's fine, really." She breached the space between them, lowering Edward's hand forcibly from where it was held in front of his face.

"Are you gonna be OK?" She asked.

"Yes." He relaxed, reluctantly lowering his arms down to his side once more. His heart raced in the silence, whether from the lingering euphoria of her embrace, or the terror caused by the angry red line of blood that had soaked through Lorelei's sleeve, he didn't know.

Lorelei's eyes dropped to the court floor again, her confusion returning in full swing. Somehow, she thought dismally, she had managed to screw up two relationships in one night. "Sorry about that Edward."

"Sorry about what?"

She took a heavy breath, sticking her hands in her pockets. "Coming here so late, having to leave again so early, royally freaking you out, take your pick." She said sarcastically. She glanced up again to find him smiling at her, the full, rare, glowing smile she liked to see. She felt warm relief envelope her, and then fade as her thoughts resumed their panicky state.

"Oh man, Edward, I really need to get home. Really. My dad would kill me..." All right, so he didn't need all the details.

Edward swallowed inaudibly again. "Goodbye." He said gently, still retaining a slight ghost of a smile.

Lorelei smiled wanly back, feeling the urge to embrace him again. This time though, she managed to resist, and just as before, slipped out the back way quickly without glancing back. She made the way home in record time, purposefully exhausting herself so that when she finally flopped into bed for the second time that night, her physical need for sleep overcame her mental and emotional need for clarity. It was easy to forget about Jim now, she had Edward to worry about. His derision towards himself unnerved her enough to let her forget her own problems for the time being, and she fell into a deep sleep with the new commission in mind. She would repair him, one or another, if she couldn't repair herself.

Edward didn't sleep at all that night. He lay awake on the floor of his makeshift home, staring at the ceiling, every once and a while an odd smile drifting across his features. Happier and more confused than he had been in months.

* * *

**Review, and be honest, please. Once again, I beg your patience with me. And for the record, yes: Jim and his car are completely useless characters in this chapter, but I do intend something in the future. Ta ta for now my dears!**


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